Descriptions

The goal for this study was to examine within-person processes driving individual
development related to social goals. We examined how social regulatory processes travel
together over time to understand if daily social goal progress is sensitive to variation in
experiences of support and hindrance, and the extent to which maintenance or
achievement goal orientation explains differences in sensitivity to social experiences. A
sample of 105 adults over the age of 50 chose an individually meaningful social goal to
track over time, which they coded as achievement- or maintenance-oriented. Participants
then reported their daily progress, and experiences of support and hindrance toward that
goal over a 100-day study period. We found social goal progress to positively covary
with support and negatively covary with hindrance. These linkages, which we termed
sensitivity, varied significantly across participants. This variation was partially explained
by differences in goal orientation. Those with an achievement goal made lower goal
progress, and were more sensitive to support and less sensitive to hindrance than those
with a maintenance-oriented goal. Our findings partially explain the processes by which
older adults work toward their social goals. Daily goal progress is contingent on daily
social experiences, but these sensitivities are in part shaped by goal orientation.